Broadridge survey sees tokenisation as strategic priority

Broadridge has published survey findings showing that tokenised assets have become a strategic priority for financial services firms, with most respondents expecting digital and traditional assets to coexist.

The survey of 200 senior decision-makers in the United States and Canada suggests the industry is moving from early exploration to planning for practical use across products, workflows, and market structures. It covered wealth management, asset management, capital markets and digital asset firms.

According to the findings, 84% of firms said tokenisation is strategically important to their organisation. Another 68% said it would partially reshape financial markets within three to five years, while 69% said they planned to adapt existing infrastructure rather than build separate systems.

The results suggest firms are preparing for a market in which conventional and blockchain-based assets coexist rather than replacing one another outright. Some 92% of respondents said they expect digital and traditional assets to coexist for the foreseeable future.

Investment plans

Spending intentions also appear to be rising. Nearly one-third of respondents said they planned to increase investment in tokenisation by 26% to 50% or more over the next two years.

The research indicates that adoption is uneven across financial services. Capital markets firms appear to be leading implementation, while asset managers and wealth managers are more focused on assessing operating models and building internal capabilities.

One early area of interest is public market funds. The survey found that 80% of respondents expect tokenised mutual funds and money market funds to play a meaningful role within five years.

By contrast, expectations for equities were lower. Only half of the respondents said they expect meaningful tokenisation of equities over the same period.

Demand signals

The survey also points to mixed views on what is driving urgency. Among capital markets firms, market infrastructure developments and institutional demand tied for the top source of urgency, at 22% each.

Asset managers placed greater weight on market infrastructure developments (28%), followed by broader market momentum (25%). That suggests firms see progress in supporting systems and market plumbing as at least as important as immediate client demand.

German Soto Sanchez and Mark Nichols, Co-Presidents of Digital Assets at Broadridge, commented on the findings.

"Across the industry, there is clear recognition that tokenisation has the potential to reshape how assets are issued, traded, financed and serviced," they said.

"These survey results underscore both the opportunities and challenges firms face as they seek to connect digital and traditional assets, support governance and controls, and build markets that are efficient, resilient and trusted," they added.

Hybrid model

A notable result is the preference for hybridisation. With 69% saying they intend to adapt current infrastructure, the findings suggest many firms are not planning a full break from legacy systems. Instead, they are looking for ways to connect new tokenised processes with existing operational frameworks.

That approach reflects the practical constraints facing large financial institutions, where market infrastructure, servicing processes, governance requirements and investor protections remain tied to long-established systems. It also suggests tokenisation is being assessed less as a stand-alone market and more as an extension of existing financial architecture.

Broadridge's tokenisation-related services include on-chain proxy voting and governance, digital asset infrastructure covering post-trade activities, wallets, and custody, and services across multiple asset classes. Its Distributed Ledger Repo platform settles tokenised real assets worth more than USD $365 billion a day.

Its governance platform supports several models of tokenised securities, including issuer-listed structures, synthetic securities issued outside the United States and third-party tokenised shares in the United States.

Phronesis Partners surveyed on behalf of Broadridge. It focused on senior executives involved in digital asset and market structure decisions across North American financial services.

The findings point to a market still in transition, with firms weighing investor demand against the pace of infrastructure change and the operational demands of linking digital assets to established systems. For now, the strongest consensus is around coexistence rather than replacement, with institutions preparing for a hybrid model in which tokenised and traditional assets sit side by side.